There's
a hoax message in circulation that appeals to people to oppose
Bill 602P that is
reportedly aimed to charge 5 cents from each e-mail a person
sends. Here's what the hoax
message looks like:
Dear Internet Subscriber:
Please read the following carefully if you intend to stay online and continue using email:
The last few months have revealed an alarming trend in the Government of the United States
attempting to quietly push through legislation that will affect your use of the Internet. Under
proposed legislation the U.S. Postal Service will be attempting to bilk email users out of
"alternate postage fees".
Bill 602P will permit the Federal Govt. to charge a 5 cent surcharge on every email delivered,
by billing Internet Service Providers at source. The consumer would then be billed in turn
by the ISP. Washington D.C. lawyer Richard Stepp is working without pay to prevent this
legislation from becoming law. The U.S. Postal Service is claiming that lost revenue due
to the proliferation of email is costing nearly $230,000,000 in revenue per year. You may
have noticed their recent ad campaign "There is nothing like a letter". Since the average citizen
received about 10 pieces of email per day in 1998, the cost to the typical individual would be
an additional 50 cents per day, or over $180 dollars per year, above and beyond their regular
Internet costs. Note that this would be money paid directly to the U.S. Postal Service for
a service they do not even provide.
The whole point of the Internet is democracy and non-interference. If the federal government
is permitted to tamper with our liberties by adding a surcharge to email, who knows where
it will end. You are already paying an exorbitant price for snail mail because of bureacratic
efficiency. It currently takes up to 6 days for a letter to be delivered from New York to Buffalo.
If the U.S. Postal Service is allowed to tinker with email, it will mark the end of the "free" Internet
in the United States. One congressman, Tony Schnell ® has even suggested a "twenty to forty
dollar per month surcharge on all Internet service" above and beyond the government's proposed
email charges. Note that most of the major newspapers have ignored the story, the only
exception being the Washingtonian which called the idea of email surcharge "a useful
concept who's time has come" March 6th 1999 Editorial) Don't sit by and watch your freedoms
erode away!
Send this email to all Americans on your list and tell your friends and relatives to write to their
congressman and say "No!" to Bill 602P.
Kate Turner Assistant to Richard Stepp, Berger, Stepp and Gorman Attorneys at Law 216
Concorde Street, Vienna, Va.
